Peggy Franck & Freek Wambacq: august

Upon entering the University of Amsterdam one might pass a beautiful gate which bears an inscription that reads: “Wie het zelfde anders zegt, zegt iets anders”, loosely translated as “To say the same differently, is to say something different’. Simultaneously it could also mean that some things that look the same might have a different meaning. This inscription was part the reason to invite Peggy Franck and Freek Wambacq for this exhibition, in which two different artistic practices meet and start dialoguing, reflecting the everyday of the couple and their work.

Peggy Franck’s work develops in the space between painting, sculpture, photography, assemblage and language. Without a specific reference point, she investigates line, volume, color, texture, shape, form and spatial relationships. She constantly strives to challenge the formal and to give an intense, energetic visual experience. By overlapping spaces with forever shifting constellations and layers of painted surfaces, materials, objects and assemblages, and their reflections, reproductions and representations, she makes works where time, light and space seem to revolve around each other. With her works Franck also generates less logical associations and meanings by which she tries to make mental processes tangible. The titles the artists gives to the works seem to highlight these more mental, psychological and emotional issues.

Freek Wambacq ’s work is a sculptural investigation of form, meaning and narrative. He explores the historical, aesthetic, cultural and sociological aspects of objects. With materials and objects he creates evocative tableaux that allow viewers to construct their own narrative conclusions and meanings. Moving beyond the limits of language, his sculptures and installations incorporate, just like poetry, different sounds, colours, rhythms, rhymes and interpretations. Wambacq has been exploring objecthood as inherently sculptural, questioning the limits of visibility as well as its potential.